Over the last decade, the field of genomics, which enables the extraction and in-depth study of RNA molecules from any material, has changed biology and medicine. Molecules derived from the material of a healthy person, for example, can be compared to the molecules of an infected person, which may reveal the cause of the disease.
Until now this powerful approach has been limited to the study of molecules outside the smoke. However, for the proper functioning of nappies, it is important to identify the location of RNA molecules. In a paper published today in the magazine Science, researchers from Bar-Ilan University, Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) show that they have succeeded in developing a technology that allows, for the first time, the identification of millions of RNA molecules mapped inside nappies with nanoscale resolution.
The new technology, which researchers call ‘extension technology’, represents a major step forward in efforts to treat complex diseases and in Alzheimer’s and cancer research. It was created by combining two methods developed about six years ago – one by a team at Harvard to map RNA molecules within simple cells, and the other by a team at MIT to map cells and wings. physically exploded.
“We now have a ‘Google map’ that allows millions of RNA molecules inside the smoke to be measured with nanoscale precision, without extracting them as we did before,” said Dr. Shahar Alon, from the Faculty of Engineering, the multidisciplinary University of Bar-Ilan Brain Research Center and the Institute of Nanotechnology and Advanced Materials, the first author of the study. perform genomics analysis in 3D to not only obtain a molecular identity, but also the location inside the smoke, thus treating complex diseases better and more efficiently, ”he notes. fa-near Alon.
The new technology is particularly important for research into Alzheimer’s disease and cancer. In the Alon lab researchers are using it to detect RNA molecules within synapses, nanoscale regions of neurons in brain tissue. The placement of molecules in the old material affects processes such as learning and memory, and can shed light on which molecules participate in these processes. This can lead to an understanding of whether molecules, or rather, are damaged as a result of diseases such as Alzheimer’s. The new technology can also be used to find out where cancer cells are located in the immune system cells, and what their molecular content is. They have already discovered that cancer cells can change their behavior depending on the identity of their neighbor cells. That is, tumor cells can behave differently in relation to the molecules they express if they are close to immune cells, and vice versa.
With this and several other new technologies, Alon says that the beginning of an age in which it will be possible to create complete molecular maps of material from individuals is on the horizon. When that happens experts in the fields of image analysis, data analysis, and genetics will be needed to validate these large maps, and this innovative approach will be helpful in learning more about many complex diseases.
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